Update: Belize Open Source - Sustainable Development and Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB-USA) in northern Belize Patrick Coyle EWB-SFP, Belize Open Source - Sustainable Development, Public Laboratory for LLNL- November, 2016

11. • Established in 2004
• ~ 200 acGve members
• 8 infrastructure programs
• 1 R&D Group (was Appropriate
Technology Design Team
(ATDT)) project
• ExecuGve Commiee and
support commiees provide
chapter management,
fundraising, and publicity
EWB-SFP NaGon’s 1st Professional Chapter

19. Where is Belize?

20. Belize up close
• Belize is small: About 175 miles,
north-south, by 80 miles wide
• It has diverse land regions: cayes,
barrier reef, beaches, tropical rain
forests, caves with rivers running
into them, mountain pine ridge, and
savannahs (where we are)
• Belize is small enough and
transportaGon is good enough that a
stop at Belize Open Source can be
included as part of your iGnerary,
along with whatever else you choose
to do in Belize
• If you visit Belize and volunteer with
BOSSD, a reasonable porGon of your
trip expenses can be tax deducGble

21. How to get involved
• Contact me:
• pat@coyles.com
• Belize Open Source: hp://belizeopensource.org
• SFP-EWB: hp://ewb-sfp.org/
• EWB-USA: hp://www.ewb-usa.org/
• Individual chapters and projects are accessible through the
EWB-USA website
• Public Lab: hp://publiclab.org/

23. Cleveland State EWB project
• The new school building provides addiGonal space for the
current overcrowded school that serves approximately
450 students and serves as a hurricane shelter for the
general community
• A project-specific assessment trip was completed in
May 2010 and the floor plan for the school was
finalized and approved by the community
• Data on building material quality and availability was
gathered along with material prices
• Detailed site soil samples were collected and shipped
to CSU’s campus for laboratory tests. Soil
characterisGcs were incorporated into the school
building’s foundaGon design
• Soil characterisGcs for a leach field for the school
building’s sepGc system were evaluated

25. Floor plan – classroom building

26. Cleveland State EWB funding
• The preliminary esGmate for construcGon, furnishing and
ousitng the school was ~$150k USD
• The community agreed to raise $100k in cash and/or
in-kind contribuGons (including labor)
• The CSU Chapter agreed to raise up to $50k (Coyle/
BOSSD helped in modest amounts)
• The community applied for funds to the Belize
Natural Energy Trust (a fund organized by an oil
company) for $50k and to the Social Improvement
Fund (an internaGonal development fund in the
Caribbean)
• (as of early August ‘12, the cost to date was ~$134k,
with $61k from Belize and $73k from CSU EWB)
• ConstrucGon began in April, 2011 and was completed
in 2012

27. CSU Project Manager/ Site Engineer and APR School Project Committee
Chairman Julio Magaña at the completion of the project.

28. Classroom tiled and ready for use. The door is only open when the
building is utilized as a hurricane shelter by the community. Similar
doors allow passage throughout the building in safety.

29. Not everybody could be listed. We wish to also thank BASF, Parker Hannifin
Company, and Belize Open Source, to name a few more.

30. While in Belize the leaking roof on the existing school was repaired.
No more leaks. The black of the roof is the build up of ash from the
burning of sugar cane. Because of the slope on the new school, each
passing rain helps to keep the roof clean.

31. Anemometer installed on the
roof of the other school
building. Data collected by
the students of APR is
emailed to CSU engineering
students working closely
with Dr. Majid Rashidi and
his wind amplification turbine
system to properly size the
wind turbines.

32. CSU Students Amy Kalabon (left) and Alice Summerville (Right) level stone for the
leach field on the school property.

33. Completion of pipe runs to septic
tanks behind the school. At this
time the tanks are sealed and the
pipes all covered.

34. Distribution box walls poured, top was added the next day and everything is now
covered with fill material.

35. The leach field with all the pipes set awaiting the final cover of 18 inches of
soil.

43. CSU status
Nov 23, 2015, Norbert Delatte, the faculty advisor wrote
EWB-USA staff:
• We are not planning a 501B submittal for the Belize project
because we have evaluated our proposed water project for
the village and we don’t think it makes sense. There isn’t a
need for it and the village wasn’t enthusiastic about it.
• We are working on the 527 to close it out. I have a draft I
have been working on. Our final M&E trip was on January 6
– 9, 2013.

44. Water Quality Testing
Photo (left to right) Anna Florian, Stephen Kolbus, and Michael Sutadji taken
by Norbert Delatte

45. Installation of Solar Panel
Photo of Michael Sutadji taken by Anna Florian

46. Discussion Panel with Community over Water Treatment Design
Presentation
Photo of Community members taken by Michael Sutadji

54. Lamar University status
September 2015, Document 527, Program Closeout Report
indicates:
• Our project consisted of designing a septic tank for the
implementation of a modern restroom facility at St. Viator
High School. Since the community has found other means
of obtaining this restroom facility, our designs have now
become obsolete. We are happy to hear of the progress at
St. Viator High School, but have decided to start a new
program in another part of the world.
• We are thankful for the kindness you have shown, as well
as patience you and your students have had with us. We
apologize for not completing the project sooner and for the
uncertainty you all must have experienced when we failed
to correspond appropriately throughout these years.

56. Blanca Torres, principal of the August Pine Ridge school, wrote, “The aerial photo
mapping seems very interesting. I shared with my children and sisters the images
of our village … and they just loved them. … I welcome these opportunities where
I can involve my students in new learning experiences. I am very interested in
exposing them through your mapping project. We feel pride in having our
community appear in internet pages and more if we are involved in getting those
images.”

57. 2013 August Pine Ridge RC school mapping
session

60. In progress and completed new classroom building
Richard Obratil, former Chapter President, Project Manager/Site Engineer
EWB-Cleveland State University Chapter, wrote, “... here is a picture of the
building…”

61. 2013 Muffles Junior College, Belize mapping
sessions

62. 2013 Muffles Junior College, Belize mapping
sessions

63. Muffles Junior College, Belize mapping
• Did two hands-on
training and mapping
sessions with Rafael
Castillo, the faculty
advisor, and the
Environmental Club at
the Muffles Junior
College campus near
Orange Walk Town
• Left them with a
complete KAP mapping
kit
• Put a sustainable
mapping capability in
place at Muffles which
can serve the
Environmental Science
program

64. Site: Belize Open Source
Sustainable Development
• This 40-acre rural property
is located in northwestern
Belize near the Mexican
and Guatemala borders
about 16 miles from
Orange Walk Town,
between the villages of
August Pine Ridge and San
Felipe and 3.5 miles to the
Rio Hondo Belize/Mexico
border
belizeopensource.org
• Google Maps shows it, but unGl
recently, two more clicks in and
you ran out of pixels – it’s
beer now

65. 2013 Belize Open Source mapping session

69. 2014 Belize Open Source mapping sessions

70. 2014 Belize Open Source mapping sessions

75. ComposGng Latrine Status
• The first composGng toilets were
working great
• User acceptance was high
• GeneraGon and use of compost for
agricultural applicaGons was
successful
• The community wanted more units

78. Phase 2 (cont.)
• July 2014: AN selected parGcipants in
community of El Lllanito
• August 2014: Material Procurement
prior to construcGon started
• August 19-August 31, 2014:
ConstrucGon
• Post ConstrucGon: DocumentaGon – in
progress

79. Phase 2 Planning (cont.)
• Goal: build fourteen composGng toilets
in El Llanito community using the new
design ($336/toilet)
• Alcance Nicaragua responsibiliGes:
materials procurement and
transportaGon, idenGfying new
beneficiaries, managing the
construcGon, and collecGng
beneficiaries’ contribuGon (40% of
cost)

80. Phase 2 Planning (cont.)
• July 2014: AN selects parGcipants
• August 2014: Material Procurement
prior to construcGon start
• August 19-August 31: ConstrucGon
• Post ConstrucGon:
• DocumentaGon

88. Post ConstrucIon: DocumentaIon
– in progress

89. Post ConstrucIon: Structural
evaluaIon/upgrades
• Our team completed structural evaluaGon and developed
inexpensive upgrades to improve the integrity of the structure
• Add concrete masonry units (CMUs) with rebar and grout at the
corners of the base vault structure to add moment resistance
• Limit the force into the base vault structure from the upper
superstructure, via graceful failure so detaches from the base
vault structure in high wind loads (~80mph)

90. Structural evaluaIon/upgrades

91. Next steps
• The EWB team has raised funds to do more composGng toilets for
the families that need them
• Almost $3k through an IndieGoGo campaign
• $7.5k grant from EWB-SFP chapter
• My Rotary Club of Livermore and our NGO partnered with the
Masaya Nicaragua Rotary club for a Global Grant (GG) for
$37.5k, enough to do about 80 more units
• Rotary Club of Castro Valley allocated funds (DDF) to get us to
$15k min
• EWB-SFP ATDT is donaGng $5k
• The Rotary FoundaGon approved the applicaGon – funds are in
Nicaragua with the Masaya Rotary Club and we are preparing to
start the next phase

93. CSU and my photos

145. CSU prior photos